


The Stark Bunch

by transboypeteparker



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 10:44:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17723690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transboypeteparker/pseuds/transboypeteparker
Summary: In which Tony and Rhodey adopt another kid, Pepper gets knocked up, and May is thirsty.





	The Stark Bunch

“I’m with child.”

Tony froze with his cappucino an inch from his mouth and stared at his best friend. She stared back, challenging him to say something.

“Yeah, uh, could we rewind?” Tony asked as he put his drink down. “Hit me with that again real quick.”

“I’m with child, Tones.”

“See, that’s what I thought you said, but then I said to myself, no you must’ve heard wrong, bro, because there’s no way Virginia Potts actually said she’s with child.” He flicked a crumb off his shirt and snorted. “Also, who the fuck still says ‘with child’? Are we back in the eighteenth century?”

“Fuck off.” Pepper took a sip of her water, gazing wistfully at her friend’s caffeinated beverage. “Look, I’m telling you this because I want to know if you want it.”

“Want it?”

“Yeah. The child.”

“Pepper, what the fuck. You can’t just invite someone out to coffee, drop this bombshell on them, and then ask if they want the embryo currently taking up rent in your womb. There are  _ protocols. _ ”

“Right now I’m in prime decision making time. I need to decide soon if I’m going to terminate or if I’m gonna let the little egg continue to grow inside of me. I thought maybe you and Rhodes would be interested.” Another sip of water. “You guys do have the whole ‘taking in strays’ thing down.”

“First of all, Peter still lives with his aunt. We just help him with his studies. Second, Harley and Peter are kids, not strays.”

“So? You want another one to look after?”

A puff of air escaped Tony’s lips as he leaned back in his chair and ruffled his hair. “I dunno, Pep. Let me talk to Rhodey about it first, okay? I’ll get back to you within the week.”

“Sounds good to me.” Pepper sighed and patted her still flat stomach. “I should probably start looking into maternity pantsuits.”

“Ah, yes, can’t have you walking into board meetings in sweatpants. Not even thirty yet but already the smartest person on the board.”

“Besides you, of course.”

“Nah, we all know I’m the dumbest bitch around. Only reason they even want me on the board is ‘cause of my last name. Otherwise they’d leave me to rot down in R&D, which y’know, actually, I would probably prefer.”

“The woes of the upper class.”

“Hey, when we’re running Stark Industries, all those crusty ass white men are  _ out _ .”

The two bumped fists and started to collect their things. Tony had to go pick up Peter and Harley from school while Pepper had a meeting to get to. He offered his arm to the woman, making sure she was properly bundled up before setting off into the crisp winter air. Pepper pressed herself closer to Tony as a brisk wind settled a chill deep in her bones.

“Fuck it’s cold,” she huffed as they rounded a corner. “I’m gonna need to get a new coat, huh?”

“Don’t think that one is gonna fit you much longer, mama.”

“Oh, god, do  _ not _ call me that. I’m the  _ farthest _ thing from a mama,” she groaned. “I already know I’m gonna get shit at the office. Like maybe I should consider staying home to look after the baby or whatever.”

“Tell them Tony fucking Stark told them to fuck the fuck off.”

“Eloquent.”

“Shakespeare would be proud.”

Pepper laughed, her breath coming out in a puff of water vapor, and nudged Tony with her shoulder. “I love you, you dork.”

“Aw, Pep, I love you too!” He smacked a loud kiss onto her cheek, causing her to shriek out a giggle and try to shy away from him. “Hey stop moving so much! Let me love you!”

“Go pick up your kids and stop trying to lick my face!”

“Alright, alright.” He managed to pull her in close enough to press a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll figure this out, Pep, okay?”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a smile. “Yeah, I know, Tones.”

He watched her disappear into a high rise office building for her meeting before setting off in the direction of the elementary school. The kids would be getting out soon, and they got all salty when he was even five minutes late to meet them. Thankfully their school wasn’t that far from the office, so he usually wasn’t late. Unless he got carried away with a project. Then they would come to him and be all bitter in his workshop. Harley liked to make things go boom, and Peter would accidentally knock things off his bench. It was much better for everyone if he just set an alarm and picked them up on time.

He could see his two little gremlins huddled together on the front steps of the elementary school, their little faces scrunched up as they scowled at him.

“Miss me?” he asked as he approached them.

“You’re late,” Harley huffed, hopping a bit in place to keep his body temperature up. “And it’s cold.”

“Yeah!” Peter piped up.

The kids were only two years apart, but Peter looked up to Harley and copied everything the older boy did, which gave Tony quite a few headaches considering how chaotic Harley was getting to be at ten years old. 

“You guys cold, huh?” He could see the boys shivering even under their many layers. “Well, I didn’t need my back anyways.”

Peter let out a delighted shriek when Tony bent down and scooped him up in his arms, settling the small boy on his hip before reaching out to take Harley’s hand. The blonde boy bounced beside Tony, excitedly telling him about his day now that they were moving and getting warmer.

“And  _ then _ I got  _ two _ gold stars because I solved the bonus problem! My teacher said no one else could solve it!”

“That’s great, Harley!” Tony ruffled Harley’s hair and felt a swell of pride rise within him. His kid was amazing. “What about you, Pete? What did you do today?”

“Um. Oh! We learned about rainforests today!”

“Yeah? And what did you learn?”

“Sloths are very slow.”

“Papa,  _ Papa _ , are we taking the train?” Harley tugged on Tony’s sleeve, pointing to the station that they passed.

“No, we’re dropping Pete off today. May gets off early, remember?”

“Aw, so Peter isn’t coming home with us today?”

“Nope, sorry bud. But guess who’s getting home early?”

“Dad?”

Tony nodded and laughed when Harley let out a happy squeak. James worked late, usually coming come after Harley had already gone to bed, so any time he got to spend with his family was huge. It also meant Tony could talk to him about the whole Pepper thing without cutting into their sleep schedules.

“Can we get pizza?” Harley asked.

“You always get a tummy ache whenever we order pizza.”

“Nuh  _ uh _ .”

“Maybe you’re lactose intolerant.”

“Maybe  _ you’re  _ lac-tose in-tol-er-ant,” Harley sounded out.

“You got it, kiddo. Also, yes, I am lactose intolerant.”

“Ha!”

“You don’t even know what that means,” Tony laughed. “How about we order in Chinese instead? We can even watch a movie!”

“ _ Coco _ !”

Tony held back a sigh. “Again?”

“Mhm.”

“I wanna watch  _ Coco _ !” Peter whined, giving Tony a pout just an inch from the man’s face.

“How about we don’t watch  _ Coco _ tonight so we can watch it with Peter next week? Does that sound good, Harley?”

“...Fine.”

“Good man.”

Tony let out a groan as he swing Peter down onto the boy’s porch and ruffled his curls. He rang the doorbell and tugged lightly on Peter’s scarf.

“Hey!” May greeted the trio with a bright smile. “I see you all made it in one piece! Wanna come in for some hot chocolate real quick?”

“I wanna show Harley my new Lego set!” Peter “whispered” loudly.

“Okay, sweetheart.” May gave Tony an apologetic look. “So, hot chocolate?”

Harley and Peter zoomed to the younger boy’s room as soon as May and Tony managed to get them out of their layers, leaving the two adults to sit together on the couch, nursing mugs of hot chocolate. May had thrown a blanket over their legs for an added layer of warmth.

“So you meet up with Pepper today?” May asked.

“I did, yeah. Do you know?”

“Yep. She came to me to take the test.”

“She’s been staying with you, right? After she broke up with what’s his face.”

“Killian,” May answered with a wrinkle of her nose.

“Yeah, whatever. The guy was a total dick anyways.”

“Well, he certainly left his mark.”

“Oh no, don’t tell me.”

“Uh huh.”

“Gross.”

“I know.”

They slurped at their drinks and sat in silence for a few moments. Tony nudged her leg with his foot.

“You still thirsting?” he teased.

“I never  _ thirsted _ .”

“Oh yes you most certainly did, May Parker. You were so fucking thirsty for Pepper at Thanksgiving.”

“I  _ admire _ her.”

“Right. Okay. So you’re gonna  _ admire _ her while she’s staying with you?”

“Tony, please, I have an eight-year-old in the house.”

“You invite her to share your bed?”

“Tony!” she laughed. “The woman is pregnant!”

“I am aware that she is, and I quote, with child.”

“She’s got enough on her plate without me shooting my shot.”

“Oh, using that Gen Z slang I see.”

“Shut up. I heard someone say it at the hospital.”

“Tide Pods?”

May shoved him playfully, cackling when he almost spilled his drink all over his shirt. It had been hard when Ben passed away, but Tony and James had been there for her when it seemed like she was most alone. They looked after Peter when she took extra shifts, helped him with his homework when she was dead on her feet, and always kept her company in her darkest hours. They were her closest friends, and they were great men for Peter to look up to.

“So, do you think you and James will go through with it?” May asked quietly as she leaned her head on Tony’s shoulder.

“I don’t know. Rhodey works a lot, and, honestly, so do I. I don’t know if we’ll be able to adopt a baby. Harley’s already a lot of work, and he’s pretty self-sufficient.”

“But you want to.”

“Oh  _ god _ do I want to, May. Kids are… they’re fucking amazing. Watching them grow up is unlike anything else.”

“You’re a good dad, Tones.”

“Yeah, surprisingly I’m not so bad. Harley doesn’t have many complaints at least.”

“He adores you and James. And so will this baby, if you guys decide you want them.”

Tony let out a sigh and leaned his head on hers. “We’re all too young for this, huh.”

“We’re twenty-eight.”

“My parents had me old… and they still weren’t ready for me.”

“I don’t think we’re doing too shabby, Tones.”

They fell silent when a sudden burst of laughter from Peter’s room reached them. Tony smiled and lightly poked May’s side.

“Nope. Not too shabby.”


End file.
